50 Most Iconic Star Wars Costumes

36. Amidala’s Celebration Gown

Picture this: you’re ending the first movie in a Star Wars trilogy with a celebration of a victory. You put your female lead in a white dress that she wears while presenting some sort of item to someone crucial to the victory.

Am I describing Leia, or am I describing Queen Amidala?

The point is that the decision to dress Amidala in a white gown to end TPM was almost certainly intentional, although Dressing a Galaxy does not offer any guidance here (the dress only appears in the index).

However, Celebration Gown 2.0, at least by real-world chronology, ranks more highly than version 1.0 for a couple of reasons. First, it is literally the brightest thing that Amidala wears in the entire first film, with her Senate office dress a close second. However, instead of looking almost like mourning dress, this is clearly a happy color and a happy look for the victory celebration. In fact, it’s one of the brightest things she wears in the entire first trilogy, because Padmé tends not to wear white too often anyway. Meanwhile, we associate Leia with wearing white, so the effect of her celebration gown is dampened somewhat.

Second, it has a giant flower-petal cloak and a fan behind her head, because Amidala is a Space Queen, not a Space Princess. These are the kinds of things you get when you become a Space Queen.